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Inmate couldn't wait any longer

A man whose 15-year prison term was tentatively set to end in January disappeared Wednesday while picking up trash along U.S. 19.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published July 13, 2006

TARPON SPRINGS - After serving 15 years for burglary and theft, James Ford's freedom was just around the corner, tentatively scheduled for January.

Apparently, it couldn't come soon enough.

On Wednesday at 11:15 a.m., he was picking up trash along U.S. Highway 19 just northeast of Tarpon Springs on the Pinellas-Pasco county line when he vanished into nearby woods, officials said. Ford, 42, was still on the loose Wednesday evening.

Two employees at the state Department of Transportation had been supervising Ford, who was considered a minimal-risk prisoner, department spokeswoman Marian Scorza said. How Ford, the only prisoner under their care, gave the employees the slip was unknown.

"Right now, we are gathering all the facts in the incident and once we have them, we will do an investigation," Scorza said.

Dogs picked up Ford's scent shortly after he escaped and tracked it to a spot in the woods where officials found his discarded prison-issue work clothes, said Gretl Plessinger, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

It was unknown Wednesday how his escape would affect his release from prison.

Local authorities, including Tarpon Springs police and deputies in Pinellas and Pasco, were assisting in the search, officials said. Authorities, using an automated call system, were also alerting residents living nearby with details about Ford, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 194 pounds.

Ford had been in DOC custody since 1991, when he was convicted in Pinellas County of burglary and grand theft, records show. He was most recently held at the Sumter Forestry Camp in Bushnell, Plessinger said, adding that he was not considered violent.

In August 1990, Ford was arrested by Clearwater police on charges of grand theft and burglary, records show. Details of the case were not immediately available Wednesday.

Between 1981 and 1989, he was arrested on several occasions, on charges ranging from residential burglary and selling marijuana to armed robbery and aggravated assault.

Efforts to reach his family were unsuccessful late Wednesday, but Plessinger said authorities were contacting his relatives to see whether they had any information on his whereabouts.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Jacob H. Fries can be reached at jfries@sptimes.com or 727 445-4156.

[Last modified July 13, 2006, 00:16:57]